We all know King is hard to to get right as a movie or miniseries (have any of y’all read Harlan Ellison’s essay on this?) but sometimes they do, and it’s a thing of beuaty.
Like Misery. kathy bates owns this movie, and her Oscar is one of the few times i agree with the academy about anything. I also really liked the remake of The Shining (has it ever come out on videotape?)
What’s your favorite King movie or miniseries?
Also, what are King’s best beginnings and endings for a book? Here’s my fav.: “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
I liie the endings of Insomnia, IT, and the Tommyknockers. IT probably contains the best writin, but all three were very satisfying and bittersweet.
Without a doubt, the best adaptation of a King work was ‘Stand By Me’. Not only can you watch the movie with the original story in your hand and find that 95% of the dialogue is intact, I read the story before seeing the movie and the movie was pretty much exactly the way I imagined it - the casting was great.
After that, I’d say ‘The Shawshank Redemption’. As far as his horror stories go, ‘The Dead Zone’ and ‘Pet Sematary’ followed the books better than most.
Ahh, Shawshank Redemption was an excellent movie - I loved the written story, but I think this may be one exception to the rule where the movie was actually better than the book (IMO, of course). The mini-series of “The Stand” was also pretty good; this has been one of my favourite SK books for a long time, and I wasn’t too disappointed by the TV version.
Most disappointing movie version? “Maximum Overdrive”. The short story gave me severe creeps; I never got a real sense of this from the movie.
The Dead Zone, and Firestarter were both good. The Stand was good also, although that was technically a miniseries. Also the movie that was a series of his short stories (cat’s eyes?), was great, and very faithful to the stories.
I loved Shawshank. Misery comes in as a close second. The Green Mile’s casting was excellent. The TV movie of The Stand was great with the exception of Harold.
I don’t have my books here with me, so I can’t comment on best beginnings. However, if I recall correctly the last line in Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption is, “I hope.” That’s the perfect ending to a perfect story.
I liked The Stand. That was my introduction to Gary Sinese, who will be ingrained forever in my brain as Stu Redman. I liked Shawshank, and Stand By Me, Misery, and Carrie. I loved The Green Mile, and Storm of the Century. I did not like IT, because of John-Boy. And I thought the <spoiler deleted> at the end was better left to the imagination. I did not like Dolores Claiborne, because they changed the story a little too much for me. (What happened to her son?) Cujo was OK, even if they did change the ending. I liked Cat’s Eye. I even liked Maximum Overdrive, except for that screaming bitch. What else? Oh, Firestarter was pretty good. So was The Dead Zone. What’s-his-name is so creepy. I’m not too picky. Oh, Silver Bullet bit the big one. Am I forgetting any more?
Oh, favorite last line. Not really a line, but I loved the Wolf listening to Creedence’s Run Through the Jungle on the trip home from California in the limo, in The Talisman. Now there’s food for a movie! Although I don’t know how they’d pull off portraying Wolf.
Well I’m in the majority “Shawshank” is #1, followed by Misery, The Green Nile, Delores Claiborne (even though it was changed, it kept that creepy/depressing quality), The Stand ( I completely agree monster but I think they didn’t want the PC brigade stirred up), both Shineings (sp?) and IT despite the <spoiler deleted>. Most sucky…Needful Things
What does that have to do w/ being PC, pray tell? (Sorry, didn’t see all of The Stand- just parts. I’ve read the whole book though.)
Thanks for making another SK thread, Togepi. You’re my hero.
Now. I loved The Shining. Book was way better though, although i did see the movie first.
The Shawshank Redemption I liked as a movie better.
Carrie was really good too. No one’s mentioned that as yet.
Christine- I’ve only seen parts of it, but they’ve changed it around too much. I adore the book. That’s why even though I realize how crappy the film is, I watch it when it comes on. Sigh. But I HATE how they changed the beginning- Christine was NOT evil to begin with, her malicious…ness came from Roland Lebay (was that his name?), IMO. That really got to me when I saw the beginning scene.
Storm was good- but that was a book to begin with.
So if I had to choose one…I don’t know, I’ll say Carrie. I’m in that kind of a mood I guess. (I did just get my period last week…:o)
My favorite was Christine. Don’t ask me why, I just liked it.
Most faithful would definitely have to be Shawshank. I liked The Stand, Cujo, etc too. Quitters, Inc. was also really good. Am I the only one who was disappointed not to see a “Battleground” short in Cat’s Eye?
As for Maximum Overdrive, there was a much better movie version of the short story, this time appropriately called “Trucks”. Starring the FOX from Hot Shots part deux.
Much better than Max. Overdrive, but that story just doesn’t lend itself well to movies, like many of King’s books. Many of them lose their creepiness in the light of a soundstage, so to speak. (I couldn’t bear to watch a movie of Gray Matter if it was ever made. There’s no way seeing it could creep me out as much as reading it. Unless I saw it really happening… Then I’d probably cry like a little girl)
I’m just finishing up The Wastelands, and as much as I’d like to be able to watch the Gunslinger at the movies, I just can’t imagine them not screwing it up.
Most faithful would definitely have to be Shawshank. **
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What??? The movie adds a great deal more than the novella that appears in, what… Four Seasons I believe it was. (That’s the one that contains “Apt Pupil” -an utterly wretched movie, “The Body” the basis for “Stand by Me” and some weird story about a be-heading)
ANYway… The movie tells the story in much greater depth then the book and the screenplay writers take a number of creative liberties.
To wit (spoilers to follow):
* The action in the movie pre-dates the action in the book by several decades.
* The "Brooks" episode is no where in the book but provides the movie with a poignant look at what it means to be "institutionalized."
* The character of Tommy does not appear in the book. This is the younger criminal who is tutored by Andy (Tim Robbins) in the movie. This episode leads to...
* The confession that Tommy had heard from an inmate from another prison thus "proving" that Andy really was innocent. Not in the book.
* The warden's schemes are not as intricately spelled out in the book whereas in the movie, it is central to the plot and outcome.
* Andy's triumph in the end that brings everything together and pushes the movie from "very good" to "outstanding and unforgettable" DOESN'T APPEAR IN THE BOOK AT ALL!!
Other things like Andy playing the record over the prison PA and the fact that the Morgan Freeman character, Red, is a white guy, also diverge from the original story. But the major points listed above are significant enough to make the case that the movie is hardly faithful to the book and that the decision NOT to remain faithful was a wise one on the part of the screen play writers.
Without a doubt, The Green Mile was the best. I own and have read everything Stephen King has ever written. Well, professionally at least. I don’t have any Christmas cards he sent to his family or notes he’s left to his wife or the book report he did on Moby Dick in 8th grade, but you know what I mean.
I have to agree that ‘Running Man’ was the worst adaptation of a Stephen King story, and there have been some real stinkers. About all it has in common with the story is that there is a game show where people are hunted for sport…but in the story, the hunt goes on for an extended period of time (I think he had to survive 30 days, though not sure), the Running Man could hide anywhere in the country, the people hunting him did not have weird outfits or bizarre weapons, the main character volunteered for the show because he desperately needed the money…arrgh, that movie pissed me off so much.
Just to set the record straight,minlokwat, you’re quoting Joe_Cool, not me. My comment was “…Shawshank Redemption was an excellent movie - I loved the written story, but I think this may be one exception to the rule where the movie was actually better than the book…”
You’re my hero.